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Denise Crosby
| Place of birth = Hollywood, California, USA | Characters = Natasha 'Tasha' Yar; Sela | Image2 = NatashaYar2364.jpg }} Denise Michelle Crosby is the actress best known for playing Lieutenant Natasha 'Tasha' Yar during the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although leaving before the end of the season, she would return to the role in later episodes and would also play Sela, the Romulan daughter of Yar from an alternate timeline. Biography Born in Hollywood, California, Crosby appeared to be destined for showbusiness. She is the granddaughter of famous crooner and actor Bing Crosby, the daughter of actor and singer Dennis Crosby, and the ex-daughter-in-law of director Blake Edwards. Crosby even began her acting career with a small role in her then-father-in-law's hit romantic comedy 10 (with John Hancock, Michael Champion, Jeanetta Arnette and William Lucking) in 1979. She also appeared in two of Edwards' Pink Panther films, Trail of the Pink Panther in 1982 and Curse of the Pink Panther in 1983. Also in 1983, she appeared in Edwards' The Man Who Loved Women. Crosby married Edwards' son, Geoffrey (who wrote all of the above films with his father, with the exception of 10), in 1983. The two ultimately divorced in 1990. Her father, Dennis Crosby, passed away in 1991. Crosby married actor Ken Sylk in 1995. The two have a son, August William Sylk. Early Work Crosby also co-starred in the hit 1982 action comedy 48 Hrs. along with fellow Trek alumni Jonathan Banks and Margot Rose. Prior to assuming the role of Tasha Yar, Crosby co-starred with future TNG and DS9 guest actor Andrew Prine in the 1986 science fiction adventure Eliminators. She also appeared in such made-for-television movies as My Wicked, Wicked Ways (1985, starring Duncan Regehr and Alan Oppenheimer), Malice in Wonderland (1985, with Anne Haney, Mark L. Taylor, and Jason Wingreen), and 1986's The Family Martinez, starring future Star Trek: Voyager star Robert Beltran. Before TNG, Crosby's first work in episodic television was a 1986 episode of L.A. Law entitled "Gibbon Take". Besides series regular Corbin Bernsen, the episode also featured Bibi Besch, Josh Clark, Anne Haney, and Tom Hodges. Crosby was next seen on a short-lived series called Ohara which featured Madge Sinclair as a regular and also guest-starred future Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actress Nana Visitor. ''Star Trek'' Crosby was initally cast to play Counselor Deanna Troi, while her co-star Marina Sirtis was to play security chief "Macha Hernandez", the role that would become Tasha Yar. Before filming on the pilot began, however, Gene Roddenberry decided to switch the roles and Crosby was assigned to play Tasha Yar. She left the series before the first season ended because she felt her character was not being given enough to do. The last episode she filmed was "Symbiosis", although her character died in the previous episode filmed, "Skin of Evil" (they were aired in the opposite order). Although she intended to leave Star Trek behind and focus on her feature film career, she ultimately reprised the role of Yar in the third season episode "[[Yesterday's Enterprise|Yesterday's Enterprise]]". She then went on to play Romulan Commander Sela in "Redeption Part I" and "Redemption Part II" and "Unification II". She also returned as Yar for the series finale, "All Good Things...". Crosby also provided the voice of the promoted Admiral Sela in the computer game Star Trek: Armada. Despite leaving Trek in 1988, Crosby's future association with the franchise and the fanbase led her to produce and host the documentary Trekkies in 1997. She also returned to executive produce and host that film's 2004 sequel, Trekkies 2. Later Work After leaving Next Generation, Crosby focused on feature films. She starred in five movies between 1988 and 1989, including Miracle Mile (with Robert Doqui, Jenette Goldstein, Raphael Sbarge, William Schallert, and Brian Thompson) and Blake Edwards' Skin Deep. Perhaps her most famous film is the 1989 Stephen King horror movie Pet Semetary, in which she was the lead actress and co-starred with frequent Trek guest actor Brad Greenquist and her one-time TNG co-star Kavi Raz. During the 1990s, Crosby continued to work steadily in film while also expanding her credits in television. She had a supporting role in the 1991 comedy High Strung, featuring an early appearance by future TNG guest star Kirsten Dunst. The following year, Crosby starred in the horror movie Dolly Dearest and the year after that, she starred in the Italian drama Mafia Docks (a.k.a. Desperate Crimes). Her other film credits during this decade include a supporting role in the 1995 sci-fi thriller Mutant Species, an uncredited appearance in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 thriller Jackie Brown (featuring Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr. and Sid Haig), and a small role in the 1998 blockbuster Deep Impact (co-starring James Cromwell, Christopher Darga, Mark Moses, Kurtwood Smith, and Concetta Tomei). Also in 1998, Crosby appeared with her "Yesterday's Enterprise" co-star Christopher McDonald in the drama Divorce: A Contemporary Western. Crosby also starred in the direct-to-video releases Dream Man (1995), which co-starred DS9 actor Armin Shimerman, and Executive Power (1997), co-starring Star Trek: Enterprise guest actress Joanna Cassidy. On television, Crosby appeared in a 1991 episode of WIOU, a series which starred fellow Trek performers Robin Gammell, Mariette Hartley, Wallace Langham, Phil Morris, Eric Pierpoint, and Harris Yulin. Also in 1991, she guest-starred in an episode of The Flash along with Dick Miller and future Star Trek: Voyager star Jeri Ryan. This was followed with an appearance on Johnny Bago with John Fleck, Civil Wars with Camille Saviola, and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. with Jeremy Roberts and Tracey Walter. In 1993, she starred with Leland Crooke and Brian Thompson on the short-lived drama Key West. She also starred in at least two segments of the sexually-charged Showtime series Red Shoe Diaries and had a recurring role as Dr. Gretchen Kelly on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Among those she worked with on the latter are Teri Hatcher, K Callan, Tony Jay, and Tracy Scoggins. Her TV credits during the latter part of the 1990s include episodes of Sisters (with Erich Anderson, Stephen Collins and Frank Kopyc), Diagnosis Murder (with Jeff Allin, Diedrich Bader, and Brad Blaisdell), and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (starring Chad Allen and Barbara Babcock), as well the 1998 TV movies Pumpkin Man and Chance of a Lifetime (with the latter also featuring Michelle Horn). After the turn of the century, Crosby again worked alongside her TNG co-star Christopher McDonald in an episode of Family Law, which also starred Salli Elise Richardson and Julie Warner and guest-starred Nicholas Cascone. In 2001, Crosby was seen in episodes of NYPD Blue (along with Jeff Allin, Gordon Clapp, and Juliana Donald) and ''The X-Files'' (with Ron Canada) and guest-starred along with Rene Auberjonois in an episode of Judging Amy. She more recently appeared on such shows as JAG (with Gary Graham and Scott Lawrence), The Agency (with Ed Begley, Jr., Daniel Benzali, and David Clennon), and Crossing Jordan (with Miguel Ferrer, Zach Grenier, Eric Pierpoint, and Patti Yasutake). Crosby also continued to appear in low-budget films such as the 2002 horror Western Legend of the Phantom Rider (with George Murdock) and the 2005 horror thriller Mortuary (with Courtney Peldon and Michael Shamus Wiles). More recently, Crosby starred in the drama Ripple Effect along with her husband, Ken, as well as Enterprise star John Billingsley and Voyager guest actress Virginia Madsen. She also starred in a horror movie called Born, about a 21-year-old girl impregnated with and possessed by a demonic fetus. On television, she made an appearance in the 23 October 2007 episode of the FOX series Bones, which also featured Christopher Darga. Crosby recently finished shooting on the double episode "Blood and Fire" of the fan based internet series Star Trek: New Voyages. She plays the character Dr. Jenna Yar. She also lent her voice to an episode of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy which will also feature the voices of the entire TNG main cast. External links * Official website * * * Crosby, Denise Crosby, Denise de:Denise Crosby es:Denise Crosby fr:Denise Crosby pl:Denise Crosby